Condensate polisher with deep cation bed and powdered resin bed

Abstract

The present invention provides for a condensate polisher system that comprises a feed water flow that enters one or more deep bed condensate polishers. These deep bed condensate polishers contain ion resin beads that exchange a single ion type, typically cation resin for power generation systems. The feed water passing through the deep bed condensate polishers has a substantial portion, and even all of the cations in solution removed. This produces a semi-purified water flow that is then fed into one or more powdered resin polishers. The powdered resin polishers, which contain mixed powdered ion exchange resins or single type powdered resins depending on the nature of the semi-purified water flow, then finish the purification process on the water, producing a purified water flow.

Description

BACKGROUNDCondensate polishers are used to purify water in a large variety of systems. Condensate polishers are used chiefly in power plants or other plants condensing steam. Typical condensate polishers are designed for high flow and are composed of mixtures of cation and anion resins. As water flows over the ion exchange resin, charged particles (ions) in the water are drawn out and bonded to it. Two standard types of condensate polishers are deep bed polishers and powdered resin polishers.Deep bed polishers comprise resin beads, approximately 500-1000 micro meters in diameter, contained in a column through which feed water is passed. The ratio of cation to anions beads may be varied depending on the expected concentration of ions in the water. In practice, many are heavy in cation bead concentration due to the large amount of cations, such as ammonia, that are added to the feed water in pre-filtering steps. An advantage of deep bed polishers is that they have large capacity and a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a system for purifying water using a combination of deep bed and powdered resin polishers. The deep bed polishers remove cations from the water, while the powdered resin polishers remove anions. The purified water flow is then obtained by feeding the semi-purified water flow into the powdered resin polishers. The system can be configured with a greater number of powdered resin polishers to balance flow rates between the two types of polishers. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a more efficient and effective method for purifying water."

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, when the beads have reached operational capacity in adsorbing ions, the process for regenerating the beads is onerous.

This is primarily due to the difficulty in separating the anion from the cation beads.

A single anion bead, for example, can contaminate a large number of cation beads if it is not properly separated during the regenerating process.

Despite the ingenuity in the various techniques for separating the beads, the process is still problematic and time consuming.

However, they are less effective at capturing ions than the deep bed polishers.

Also, when the powdered resin reaches ion absorption capacity, the resin cannot be effectively regenerated and is disposed of and replaced.

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